FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2016
DEP AND SFWMD TO MOVE FORWARD WITH INSTALLING TEMPORARY PUMPS
~Operation will move additional water from flooded Everglades Water Conservation Area~
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida
Department of Environmental Protection and South Florida Water Management
District today announced they are moving forward with the rental, installation
and operation of four temporary pumps to move additional water from the flooded
Everglades Water Conservation Area 3 in Miami-Dade and Broward counties into
Everglades National Park.
“Under the state of emergency
declared by Governor Rick Scott last week, DEP and our local partners are taking
action to address flooding in the Everglades and the discharges from Lake
Okeechobee,” said DEP Secretary Jon Steverson. “This operation will further
reduce water levels in the water conservation areas and beneficially move more
clean water through Everglades National Park to relieve discharge pressures on
the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Estuaries.”
The temporary pumps will move
additional clean water south through Shark River Slough by pumping a minimum of 129 million gallons of additional water per day out of the conservation area.
“Governor Scott’s state of
emergency and DEP’s emergency order have allowed us to take swift action in
adding these pumps to our flood control operations, sending additional clean
water into Everglades National Park,” said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Dan
O’Keefe. “The District continues working to relieve high water levels
throughout the system and provide relief from the unprecedented conditions.”
On Feb. 26, 2016, Governor
Rick Scott signed Executive Order 16-59, which declares a state of emergency in
Lee, Martin and St. Lucie counties, following heavy rainfall that resulted
in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers frequently discharging water from Lake
Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.
By raising the L-29 canal
level on Feb. 15, 2016, per an order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and
at the request of Governor Rick Scott, the SFWMD has been able to move more than 11 billion gallons of clean water from
the conservation area through the L-29 canal and into Northeast Shark River
Slough in Everglades National Park.
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